


Flowers

by MarshmallowBoats



Series: Reaper76 childhood friends au [1]
Category: Overwatch (Video Game)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Childhood Friends, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, And loves flowers, Childhood, Childhood Friends, Cute Kids, Fluff, Innocence, Jack is adorable, Kid Fic, Kid!Gabriel Reyes, Kid!Jack Morrison, M/M, alternative universe, small beans
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-03-26
Updated: 2017-03-26
Packaged: 2018-10-10 17:57:51
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,632
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10443729
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MarshmallowBoats/pseuds/MarshmallowBoats
Summary: Bored in church one day, Gabriel escapes to his den- a little patch of trees only he knows about. But someone else seems to think it's their special place too...Kid!Gabriel & Kid!Jack being smol





	

**Author's Note:**

> Not sure what age they are here, but pretty young. The furthest it goes is hand holding & hugs because they're kids! Inspired by Non-fatmilk's art on tumblr...I saw it, fangirled and then stayed up late writing this despite needing to go to bed early... ahahaha oh well

Gabriel hated the stupid shirt his abuela had forced him to wear to church and he hated his stiff trousers and he hated his stupid hair that was all combed back with gel and rock solid. Abuela had sat him next to his cousin Maria who he also hated because she talked to him in a sickly-sweet baby voice and tried to get him to take pictures with her on her smartphone whenever they met. Most of all though, he hated church with its old book smell and uncomfortable benches and droning speeches that didn't really make sense to him. It was all just stupid. 

"Are you alright Gabi?" 

Gabriel tried to ignore the fact Maria had just called him "Gabi" because he had just come up with an idea. "I need to pee." He opened his eyes wide and wiggled in his seat to make it look convincing.

"Now? Can you hold?" Maria whispered, keeping an eye out for Abuela. 

Gabriel shook his head.

Maria nibbled on her lip and didn't respond for a few minutes, "Well...if you're desperate I suppose...just sneak out quietly ok? Do you know where the toilet is?"

With building triumph Gabriel nodded, trying to hide his smile. Maria cast one more nervous glance in the direction of their family and then nudged Gabriel off the pew. He padded lightly to exit, grinning his most charming grin to anyone who raised an eyebrow at him. Almost there....Almost there.... Excitement danced through his body right to his toes as he slipped between the heavy doors with all the silence he could muster. After a brief trek through some corridors, he was free and out in the sunshine. 

The sky was a fresh blue, like a pool you could swim in. Little clouds were dotted across it, sprays of whipped cream in a vast, vast ocean. Gabriel knew today was the perfect day for an adventure. He picked up the stoutest, most trustworthy stick he could find and pulled it along the rungs of the fence separating the church car park from the convenience store. The answering rattle was his own fanfare, heralding his arrival to his kingdom. Round the corner, past the junkies' house, down the lane towards the posh people housing estate, two left turns and there it was: a little patch of forest. Gabriel ducked under the tangle of low hanging branches and through the green cavern of bushes. It was like one of those movies his Papi liked, with red lazer bits you had to dodge. He surveyed his den and put his hands on his hips. Yep, it was all in order. His box was still in the corner where the two walls met and all the mouldy footballs were still where he had left them, so no-one had been here. Gabriel frowned at the daffodil sticking defiantly out at him from under his tree. Flowers were stupid too. He started moving his foot to kick it-

"DON'T!" A voice suddenly rang out just from his den entrance. There was a blonde boy, about his age by the looks of it, but slightly shorter, with a spattering of freckles across his pale nose and bright blue eyes, the same fresh colour as the sky. 

Gabriel crossed his arms and felt his lip pout a little, "Why can't I? It's my den." 

The blonde boy blinked, "It's my den too." 

Gabriel felt his indignation rise. Who was this...kid? He had found this special place first and it was his. "I found it first!" He insisted.

Suddenly, like sun from behind a cloud, a smile spread across the other boy's face, "We could share! And be friends!" 

Gabriel didn't really know why he did it. He regretted it almost immediately. But something cruel twisted in his gut when the boy said that. Friends were stupid, he didn't need friends. And he definitely didn't want to share. He stomped his foot down on the flower, grinding his foot into it. 

The boy's face crumpled. "O-oh." 

The sky blue eyes were rapidly filling with tears and his bottom lip was trembling a little. All at once Gabriel's stomach dropped and he felt a bit like a monster. "W-wait..!" Gabriel jumped back and stared at the ruined daffodil, willing it to come back to life. "We can find another one!" 

Daffodil boy sniffled, "S'okay. The bulb will still grow back next year." But he still looked a bit wobbly.

"I'm sorry." Said Gabriel, because he was. "My name is Gabriel."

"I'm Jack." Jack shrugged, "You can have your den if you want." 

Having the den all to himself didn't really seem like it would be as fun as it used to be. Gabriel reached out and grabbed Jack's hand, "No! I...I think it would be really cool to share! I was just...I...I've never really had a friend before." 

Jack stared at Gabriel, at their hands and then the daffodil, then back to Gabriel, "Really?" He ventured.

"Uh-huh!" 

A smaller smile this time, but still a smile. "I guess that would be ok. I haven't really had a friend before either."

Gabriel didn't really know what to do next so handed Jack his stick, "This is my sword. I'm on a mission." 

"What's your mission?"

"Well..umm..." Gabriel felt suddenly shy under Jack's inquisitive stare, "To find new seeds! Because you're a wizard and you need your plants to make potions."

Jack's eyes were shining, "Yeah!" 

They walked back the way Gabriel had came with Jack trailing nervously behind him. "I've never been this way." He whispered, "I live over that way." He stuck his thumb in the direction of the posh houses. 

"It's ok. I know everywhere around here." Gabriel boasted. 

The broken bell didn't ring when they opened the door to the convenience store, but Gabriel knew the Amaris had some kind of psychic power which meant they always seemed to be able to sense when a customer came in. It was maybe his favourite shop in the whole city because it sold everything, cheap toys, dvds, sweets, colourful clothes with shiny bits and so many different kinds of foods from so many different places it was like the whole world had ended up crammed into the one shop. Gabriel felt his chest swell in pride at the expression of amazement on his new friend's face. "They'll have seeds somewhere." Gabriel reassured him.

Ana Amari appeared from behind a beaded curtain and waved at Gabriel. She was close to Maria's age and they went to the same school, but she didn't treat him like a baby and he liked her. "Hey there Gabriel."

"Ana we need seeds."

She squinted, noticing Jack for the first time, "Who's your friend?" 

Gabriel introduced him and summarised the story. "-So we really need seeds!"

Ana shook her head, "What a way to make a friend Gabriel, crushing his flower." She smiled, "I'll see what I can find." 

Jack nudged Gabriel when she left, "She seems really nice." 

Gabriel grinned, pleased Jack thought so too, "She is." 

Ana reappeared with an assortment of bulbs and seeds. "So what do you want?"

Jack came to life and sprang over to see the seeds, muttering under his breath as he turned the packets over in his hand. He stared at the pictures for a long, long time. "They're all really beautiful!"

Again Gabriel felt a twinge of regret for the daffodil. He dug out the few coins he had been given for the collection bowl and passed them to Ana. "What will this get...?" 

Ana counted out the money and passed them over some packets, "These..." She winked, "But you can have these too, free of charge." 

Jack jumped on her, wrapping her in a hug that surprised both Ana herself and Gabriel, "Thank you!" She patted his head, "It's alright kid."

Clutching his precious packets to his chest, Jack walked beside Gabriel beaming as they left the shop.  It was kind of nice, Gabriel decided, having a friend. He liked making Jack happy again. 

When they got back to the den they found a nice sunny spot together where the trees weren't as thick. Following the instructions on the packets, they dug holes with their hands, giggling at all the beetles and worms that wriggled out of the damp soil. There was a nice earthy smell in the air and Gabriel secretly hoped it would cling to his hands even after washing the dirt off, so he could remember the sun and the funny bugs and Jack even when he was at home. Jack patted down the piles of earth where their plants had been planted and gave a wide, slightly sweaty, grin. "Thank you Gabi." 

Gabriel felt himself flush at the nickname. Somehow it wasn't as bad when it was coming from Jack. "It's ok. I'm sorry about your daffodil."

The trees rustled gently in the breeze and for a moment they enjoyed the peace. "Is it, ok if I make a garden here?" Jack asked, not meeting his eyes. "My mummy had a garden and we worked on it together but she..." The small boy curled up and to Gabriel's amazement managed to become even smaller, "She died. My daddy doesn't like seeing flowers anymore."

Gabriel wished he could go back in time like superman in those old movies and stop himself from stamping on the flower. That was the most stupid mistake of his life. "Jack you're going to have the best garden ever and I'm going to help you." 

Jack nodded and threw his arms around Gabriel, squeezing hard. Gabriel thought he could feel wet tears leaking onto his shoulder but didn't say anything. He just hugged his friend back. Jack.  His friend.


End file.
